If you are a CEO, a business owner, a leader inside of a large corporation, a counselor, a coach, a therapist, a wellness provider, an influencer, a mother, a parental figure, a grandparent... really, anyone who has accepted the invitation to support people or guide people... welcome to the leadership club! On a grand level or on an intimate level, you change people's lives.
Often, leadership is taught to be product driven and focused. Leadership focuses on the product of the leader's work. For example, the product of a influencer on YouTube would be engagement on the platform, which then results in financial compensation. The product of a wellness provider would be the client's positive shifts in health and wellbeing.
Today, I'd like to invite you to a new way of seeing, being and engaging in life as a leader. The Whole Leader Model focuses primarily on the leader, while also valuing the product.
Whole leadership is an embodiment concept, including the leader's mind, body and soul as well as the leader's mission. This concept honors the entire leader, instead of what the leader is leading. The people, concepts and missions in which she is tasked to lead is only a part of the whole- but not the whole itself.
Often in the societies we live, we naturally adopt a sacrifice mindset when it comes to leadership. This idea perpetuates the viewpoint that a leader must sacrifice one important thing over another. Instead, the Whole Leader model honors all of the parts of the whole. A CEO can also be a rested, healthy mother. A business owner doesn't have to choose between her time and energy. A a supervisor can examine her biases while also showing up as a leader.
I can tell you countless stories from my own life and from other's where we felt as leaders we had to sacrifice something. In fact, on two very different occasions, in two different decades of my life, I've had two doctors fall asleep during my appointment. I'm not kidding. One was a gastroenterologist who was burning the midnight oil. Another was gynecologist and a new mother of twins. Both had valid, personal reasons for falling asleep on the job. They both were sacrificing sleep for life and work. And, in both cases, in my opinion, it wasn't necessary and was quite hazardous for the their jobs. (In both cases, I didn't ever see either doctor again, with a statement that I was worried about my level of care if they were falling asleep on the job.)
The Whole Leader Model focuses on the individual leader as the epicenter of the leadership role. There are three areas of a leader's life that the model focuses on: mind, body and soul. Everything starts with these three aspects of the leader's life. From there, her leadership mission, and the operations of her position start from a grounded place. She changes the world without shadowing another aspect of her life.
Here is how the three aspects of mind, body and soul influence the Whole Leader Model:
The Leader's Mind: The leaders mind is all about how a leader thinks, learns, grows, and changes. This includes mindset, thought processes and working through issues.
The Leader's Body: The leader's vessel for leadership is all about the body. This is where the leader's energy lies. This is how the leader taps into her power on a visceral level.
The Leader's Soul: This is the leader's connection to spirit. Most leaders have some sort of divine connection and reason for their calling. A leader co-creates with her spiritual connections in order to impact on a scale.
I will be sharing much more about The Whole Leader Model over the next weeks, but as we move into a new way of seeing and being in leadership, I'd like to invite you to explore the three aspects above. Grab your journal and answer the following questions:
How do I support my mind, body and soul on a daily basis?
What gets in my way in supporting these three aspects on a daily basis?
What do I feel like I don't have enough of, or what do I need, when it comes to the three aspects?
How would my leadership role shift as I fully immerse myself into filling my cup fully in each of the mind, body and soul levels?
As you shift your perspective of leadership, it may bring up some big things for you. Honor yourself, be in the work.
As always, I am sending my love!
Katherine xx
PS. I just re-opened my free Facebook group, The Whole Leader Community. I'd love for you to join! Here's a link to request access: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wholeleadercommunity